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.APHICAL 
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LITERATURE 




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1 Jackson " 



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\ VL STRADLING & COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 

PHILADELPHIA, PA* 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



. 



THE STORY 



OF 



44 



OLD HICKORY" 



ANDREW JACKSON 



BY 

HENRY W. ELSON, A.M. 

m 



J. M. STRADLING & COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 
PHILADELPHIA, PA. 



.^1 



34637 



Copyright, 1899 
By J. M. STRADLING & COMPANY 



























WESTCOTT & THOMSON, 
ELECTROTYPERS, PHILADA. 



CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

I. Birth and Boyhood ok Andrew Jackson 5 

II. Jackson in the Revolution 8 

III. Journey to the Far West 15 

TV. Wild Life in Tennessee 18 

V. Jackson in Congress 23 

VI. Jackson becomes a Judge 26 

VII. Old Hickory 31 

VIII. Fighting Indians 36 

IX. More Indian Fighting 39 

X. Major-General Andrew Jackson 44 

XI. Battle of New Orleans 48 

XII. Echoes from the Battle 53 

XIII. General Jackson becomes President 58 

XIV. Jackson as President 63 

XV. Jackson's Old Age 67 

3 




GENERAL ANDREW JACKSON 



THE STORY OF ANDREW JACKSON. 



I. 

BIRTH AND BOYHOOD OF ANDREW JACKSON. 

In 1765, two years after the French and 
Indian War had closed, a man named Andrew 
Jackson, with his good wife and two bright 
little boys named Hugh and Robert, came 
from the north of Ireland and settled in South 
Carolina. 

They landed at the port of Charleston and 
made a long journey through the wilderness, 
one hundred and sixty miles to the northwest 

They came to a settlement, called the Wax- 
haw Settlement, after a tribe of Indians of 
that name. 

Here Mr. Jackson made his home. He was 
not a rich man, but had means enough left to 
purchase a little farm, on which he built a little 
log-house and began to clear away the forest. 

The family rejoiced to have a home of their 
own though it was a rude one. In his native 
country Mr. Jackson had been only a tenant, 



6 ANDREW J A CKSON. 

and his wife had helped support the family by 
weaving linen. 

Now they owned their home and looked for- 
ward to a long, happy life. 

But their happiness in their forest-home was 
soon to be ended, and their family life broken 
up forever. Scarcely had they been two years 
in their new abode when Mr. Jackson's health 
gave way ; he became ill and soon died. 

On the sad day of the funeral Mrs. Jack- 
son's brother-in-law took her and her two little 
sons to his own home, a short distance away; 
and here a few days later, on the fifteenth of 
March, 1767, another child was born into the 
family. 

The new baby was a boy, and his mother 
named him Andrew, after his dead father. 

The home of the Jacksons was in South 
Carolina, very near the State line; but the 
house of this relative was just across the line in 
Union County, North Carolina, and it was here 
that the future president was born. 

Mrs. Jackson was thus left with three little 
fatherless boys, and for them she must care as 
best she could ; but she was a noble woman, 



ANDRE W J A CKSON. J 

brave and industrious, and she left nothing 
undone that she could do for her children. 

Hugh and Robert were soon old enough to 
help earn the living, and with what they could 
do and what the mother could earn at her spin- 
ning-wheel, they managed to live with comfort. 

During the long winter evenings the broth- 
ers would often sit at their mother's knee 
and hear her tell of the oppression of the poor 
in Ireland, of their long voyage across the 
ocean to their new home in the widerness, and 
of their brave and generous father, whom 
Andrew had never seen. 

Mrs. Jackson was a devout Christian, and 
she desired that one of her sons should be- 
come a minister. 

Her choice fell upon Andrew, and he was 
sent to school in a little log meeting-house in 
a pine forest near their home. 

Here he spent a few months each year for 
several years, while his faithful mother earned 
enough to pay his expenses by spinning flax. 
Andrew learned readily, and was soon able 
to read and write. 

He was very fond of sports, especially riding, 



8 ANDRE W J A CKSON, 

hunting, and wrestling, nor was there a boy to 
be found in all that region so full of courage 
as he. 



II. 

JACKSON IN THE REVOLUTION. 

While our young hero was attending school 
the Revolutionary War broke out, and many a 
brave colonist left his home and dear ones to 
lay down his life on the battle-field. 

But the South was not greatly harassed 
until near the close of the war. In 1780 the 
city of Charleston was captured by the British, 
and Lord Cornwallis passed through the Caro- 
linas and laid waste the country. 

In May of that year Colonel Tarleton, one 
of the most vicious and inhuman of the Brit- 
ish raiders, came right through the Waxhaw 
Settlement, suprised a camp of militia, and 
killed and wounded more than two hundred. 

The old meeting-house was now turned into 
a hospital, and Mrs. Jackson and her two sons 
became nurses and did all in their power to 
care for the wounded. 



ANDRE W J A CKSON. 9 

I say her two sons, for there were now but 
two ; the oldest boy Hugh had joined the army 
some time before, and, after fighting in the battle 
of Stono, had died of heat and exhaustion. 

It was here while caring for the wounded 
that the heart of Andrew Jackson was fired 
with a love of his country and a hatred of 
its foes that burned in his bosom as long as 

he lived. 

Before the summer was over he and his 
brother Robert took up arms and joined the 
Patriot army. Andrew was only thirteen years 
old, but almost as tall as a man and as brave 

as a lion. 

For nearly a year the Patriots and Tories 
carried on war with each other, and there were 
many deeds of cruelty. 

The Tories did not belong to the English 
army; they lived in America, but favored 
the English side and fought against the 
Patriots, 

By and by Cornwallis, hearing that there 
were so many Patriots at Waxhaw, sent a body 
of troops to assist the Tories. 

Forty of the Patriots, including the two Jack- 



I O ANDRE W J A CKSON. 

son boys, assembled in the old meeting-house 
to prepare for defence, but a Tory told the 
troops where they were, and eleven of the forty 
were captured, the rest escaping, mostly on 
horseback. 

The Jackson brothers both escaped, but in 
different directions. Andrew had a companion 
in his flight, Thomas Crawford, his cousin. 

The two galloped along at headlong speed, 
hotly pursued by the British, till they came to 
a swamp into which they plunged. His cousin 
was taken captive in the swamp, but Andrew 
gained the other side and soon left his ene- 
mies behind. 

Toward evening as he was riding along in 
the lonely forest he saw some one in the dis- 
tance, and, on looking carefully, found it to 
be his brother Robert. 

What a happy meeting it must have been, 
for neither of them knew, before they met, that 
the other was alive ! That night was spent by 
these two brothers under the bank of a little 
creek. 

When morning came they were almost 
starved. Leaving their horses they crept slyly 



A NDRE W J A CKSON. I I 

to a farm-house to ask for food, but an enemy 
saw them and gave the alarm. 

The house was soon surrounded by English 
soldiers and the two brave lads were made 
prisoners. 

I am sorry to have to tell you how these sol- 
diers acted. There was no one in the house but 
a woman and her little children, besides the 
two captured boys; but these soldiers, acting 
more like brutes than men, broke to pieces all 
the furniture in the house, tore up the bedding 
and clothing — even the clothing of the baby 
in the mother's arms. 

While this was going on, the brutal officer 
in command ordered Andrew Jackson to clean 
his boots. Andrew answered: " Sir, I am a 
prisoner of war, and claim to be treated as 
such." 

At these words the man drew his sword and 
struck a terrible blow at the boy's head, but 
Andrew saved his life by throwing up his 
hand. 

His hand was badly cut, and he also re- 
ceived a severe wound in his head, the scars 
of which remained to the end of his life. 



1 2 ANDRE W J A CKSON. 

The officer now turned to Robert and or- 
dered him to clean the boots, but he also re- 
fused, when the officer struck him with his 
sword and made a terrible gash in his head 
which afterward caused the boy's death. 

They were then placed on horses and taken 
to Camden, forty miles away, and during the 
long journey they were allowed nothing to eat 
nor to drink. At Camden they were thrown 
into prison with about two hundred and fifty 
other prisoners. 

Here they spent several weeks without hav- 
ing their wounds dressed, without beds, and 
with no food but bad bread. 

There was one whose efforts to get the two 
brothers out of prison never ceased, and that 
was their loving mother. 

At length she succeeded, but when she met 
her boys she hardly knew them, so haggard 
and weak they had become. They were in the 
first stages of small-pox, which had broken out 
in the prison. 

The doctors did not know in those days 
how to treat this disease as they do now, and 
many a poor captive died of it in the prison. 



ANDRE W J A CKSON. 1 3 

The wound in Robert's head had not healed, 
and when set free he was unable to walk. His 
mother had two horses there and he was put 
on one of them, but he could not sit alone 
and two friends had to hold him during all 
that journey of forty miles to their home. 

The mother rode the other horse, and An- 
drew walked behind without hat or shoes and 
at the same time suffering with the small-pox. 

It was a long, terrible journey. A rain- 
storm overtook them on the way and their suf- 
ferings were increased. When at last they 
reached home, they were utterly exhausted, 
and poor Robert died within two days. 

Andrew had a long siege of sickness, and, 
for a time, lost his mind ; but the loving care 
of a tender mother brought him back to 
health though it was many months before he 
had fully recovered. 

What a noble woman was Mrs. Jackson! 
She had lost two sons and almost the third in 
defence of her country ; but she was not one 
to sit down and say that she had done enough. 
She could not rest when there was suffering 
around her. 



1 4 ANDRE W J A CKSON. 

Hearing that the prisoners in the British ships 
at Charleston were in great distress, and some 
of them being her neighbors, she resolved to 
do what she could. 

She left her boy with friends and made the 
long journey, one hundred and sixty miles, 
that she might minister to the wants of those 
in distress. 

She truly believed the Saviours words: 
" Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the 
least of these, ye have done it unto me." 

Andrew Jackson never again saw his mother. 
She gave her own life, as well as that of her 
sons, to the cause of her country. 

When about to return home she was seized 
with a fatal fever and soon died. She was 
buried near the place where she died, and only 
God knows her burial-place. 

Her son Andrew searched for her grave in 
after years, but he never could find it. 



ANDRE W J A CKSON. I 5 

III. 

JOURNEY TO THE FAR WEST. 

Andrew Jackson was thus left without 
parents or near relatives while still a boy, only 
fourteen years of age. 

But he never forgot his beloved mother and 
the lessons she had taught him. He loved 
to speak of her as long as he lived. 

Her life was so pure and so unselfish, her 
character so firm, so lovable, and so kind that 
her image was forever imprinted on his soul. 

Above all did she impress upon his mind a 
reverence for truth and child-like trust in God. 

Many years after, when he had become a 
great man, he would often quote some homely 
saying when in the heat of an argument, and 
then remark : " That I learned from my dear 
old mother." 

What a blessing for a boy to have a good 
mother. Many a boy who has such a mother 
does not honor her as he should. 

For several years Andrew Jackson remained 
in the Waxhaw Settlement. He taught school 



1 6 ANDREW J A CKSON. 

for two or three years. His education was 
not what is now required of school-teachers. 
No doubt many a boy twelve years old now 
knows more than he did. 

When he was eighteen he decided to be- 
come a lawyer, and made a long journey to 
Salisbury, North Carolina. Here he entered 
the law office of Mr. McCay, one of the lead- 
ing lawyers of the State, and remained with 
him for two years. 

In 1788 there was a party leaving North 
Carolina for the far west, as it was called — that 
is, for Tennessee. The land west of the 
Mississippi River did not then belong to the 
United States. Tennessee was not then a 
State. It belonged to North Carolina and was 
called Washington County. 

Mr. Jackson, who was now a lawyer, twenty- 
one years old, resolved to go with them. The 
journey was a long one through hundreds of 
miles of dense forest and over rugged moun- 
tains. 

There were many wild animals and sav- 
age Indians in the way; but the men were 
strong and brave and they reached Nashville 



A NDRE W J A CKSON. 1 7 

in October. Nashville is now a beautiful city; 
then it was a small village of log-cabins. 

As soon as Mr. Jackson reached Nashville 
he became public prosecutor — that is, the law- 
yer who brings criminals to justice. 

Before he came there was no one there who 
had the courage to do this. Many of the men 
in the country refused to pay their debts, and 
when asked to do so they were insulted and 
wanted to fight. 

They often fought with pistol or knife. 
But Andrew Jackson was a hero, and when 
sent to arrest them, if they wished to fight him, 
he was always ready for them. 

He loved justice and right, and the law- 
breakers soon came to fear and hate him. 
Many a time his life was in danger from these 
men, but he always came out ahead in the end. 

One day a gang of ruffians, who had long 
defied the law, were arrested by Mr. Jackson. 

When they came into the court they became 
insolent and defiant and refused to be tried. 
Jackson instantly drew his pistols and called 
upon the good citizens to assist him. 

When the ruffians saw what kind of a man 



1 8 ANDRE W J A CKSON. 

they had to deal with they were awed and 
made no further trouble. They were then 
tried and punished according to law. 



IV. 

WILD LIFE IN TENNESSEE. 



Tennessee was a wild country one hundred 
years ago when Andrew Jackson first went 
there. It was like some of the mining regions 
of the Rocky Mountains at present. 

Many of the people were as rough and ig- 
norant as any of the cow-boys of our western 
prairies. 

Hostile Indians swarmed all around the 
settlers, and scarcely a week passed without 
some one being killed by them. Women and 
children never went away from home alone. 
The men all carried guns. 

If two men stopped in the road to talk, they 
would stand, each with his back to the other, 
one looking each way with rifle in hand 
ready for use. 

No one dared stoop to drink from a spring 
without having a comrade on guard. Boys and 



ANDRE W J A CKSON. 1 9 

girls could not go out berrying without the at- 
tendance of armed men. 

One dark, lonely night Mr. Jackson was 
riding through the woods alone in the heart of 
the Indian country. 

The rain had fallen for some hours, and he 
came to a stream that he could not ford. He 
did not dare to light a fire, lest the Indians 
should see it, nor even to let his horse move 
about to browse. 

So he took off the saddle, put it at the root 
of a tree, and sat upon it all night, holding the 
bridle in one hand and his rifle in the other. 

Thus he sat in silence, and when morn- 
ing dawned he mounted his horse and soon 
reached his home. 

At another time he travelled through the 
forest for sixty hours without sleeping, the 
Indians being on his trail. Then he wrapped 
himself in his blanket, lay down on the 
ground, and soon fell asleep. 

It was midwinter, and when he awoke in the 
morning he found that six inches of snow had 
fallen on him. But the Indians had lost his 
track and he escaped. 



20 A NDRE W J A CKSON. 

Besides the Indians there were many white 
men who would defy the law and do as they 
pleased. A new country always attracts per- 
sons of this kind. There were many deeds of 
violence. 

Not only the law-breakers but the farmers 
and everybody were quick to resent an insult, 
and it was a common thing to see men or boys 
fighting. 

When two men got into a quarrel they 
would often settle the matter on the spot with 
pistol and knife, and sometimes one or both 
were killed. 

Any one living in such a country very 
long is almost sure to become like the rest 
of the people ; and so it was with Andrew 
Jackson. 

He lived many years in this wild, half-civ- 
ilized country, and we find him as ready 
as anyone to engage in a fight. 

There was very little money in Tennessee 
at this time, and the people had to use other 
things instead of money. They used sugar 
and the skins of animals and different kinds 
of liquors for money. 



ANDRE W JA CKSON. 2 1 

For example, a coon-skin or fox-skin was 
worth a half-gallon of whiskey or twelve 
pounds of sugar. Three coon-skins equalled 
a gallon of peach brandy, and four gallons of 
peach brandy were worth an otter-skin. The 
otter-skin was the most valuable piece of 
money they had. 

When large sums of money were to be paid, 
the soft money — that is, the liquor, was con- 
veyed in large jugs, and the hard money, the 
skins, in wooden boxes. 

To save the trouble of opening the box to 
count the money every time it changed hands 
the tail of each skin was left sticking out of 
a small opening for the purpose. 

But sometimes a dishonest person would fill 
his box with coon-skins with otter's-tails 
tacked on them and thus deceive the unwary. 

One of the worst features of social life a 
hundred years ago was duel fighting. When 
a man felt himself insulted by another, he 
would challenge him to fight a duel. 

Then they would meet on the field of honor, 
as they called it, stand some distance apart, 
and fire at each other with pistols. Sometimes 



2 2 ANDRE W J A CKSON. 

they would use knives or swords. It often 
happened that one or both were killed or dis- 
abled. 

If a man refused to fight a duel, or did not 
send a challenge when insulted, he was 
called a coward, and was looked down upon 
by the people. Many took pride in the num- 
ber of duels they had fought. 

There was more duelling in a new settle- 
ment like Tennessee than elsewhere, but the 
practice existed in all the States. It had been 
introduced from Europe. 

It was by duelling that Alexander Hamil- 
ton, Stephen Decatur, Senator Broderic, and 
hundreds of others lost their lives. Andrew 
Jackson fought several duels, and at various 
times narrowly escaped being killed. 

With all his courage he had not the moral 
courage to defy public opinion and refuse to 
fight a duel. Happily this barbarous practice 
has almost entirely died out. 



ANDRE W J A CKSON. 2 3 

V. 

JACKSON IN CONGRESS. 

In 1796 Tennessee became a State. At the 
close of the Revolutionary War there were 
but thirteen States in the Union. The first 
to be admitted after this was Vermont. Ken- 
tucky came next. This made fifteen ; now 
Tennessee becomes the sixteenth State. 

Before a territory becomes a State the peo- 
ple elect men to meet and frame a constitution 
— that is, a writing which is to be the basis of 
the laws. 

Andrew Jackson was one of the men elected 
to make the Constitution of Tennessee. 
When this was done and the State was ad- 
mitted into the Union, the people elected Mr. 
Jackson to Congress. 

Congress is composed of two houses, first, 
the Senate, or Upper House, and second, the 
House of Representatives, or Lower House. 
It was the Lower House to which Jackson 
was elected. 

He now had a long journey to make, nearly 



24 ANDRE W J A CKSON. 

eight hundred miles, to Philadelphia, where 
Congress then met. It was not until the year 
1800 that Congress met in Washington City. 

There were no railroads in those days, and 
Jackson had to make this journey on horse- 
back. It took about six weeks. 

As he crossed the mountains his mind must 
have gone back to the time, eight years before, 
when he had crossed the same mountains, 
seeking his fortune in the far western country. 

He reached Philadelphia in December just 
in time to hear President Washington make his 
last speech to Congress. It was the custom 
then for the President to speak sometimes be- 
fore Congress, but he never does so now. 

This was Jackson's first appearance in a 
great city. He must have looked like a true 
backwoodsman. He was described as a tall, 
lank, uncouth-looking person with long hair 
done up in a cue and tied at the back with 
an eel-skin. 

The only important thing that Jackson did 
in this Congress was to secure payment to the 
people of Tennessee for an expedition against 
the Indians three years before. 



ANDRE W J A CKSON. 2 5 

The Indians had become so hostile that the 
people could not wait for orders from the gov- 
ernment, so they took their guns and drove 
the Indians back. Now they asked that the 
government pay them for this, as it did in 
other territories. 

Some were opposed to doing this ; but Jack- 
son stuck to it and won his case. The gov- 
ernment paid nearly twenty-three thousand 
dollars to the Tennessee Indian fighters. 

At the end of this session of Congress Jack- 
son went back to his home. Soon after this 
there was a vacancy from his State in the Sen- 
ate, and he was appointed to fill it. 

So the next year, 1797, when he went back to 
Philadelphia, he was a United States Senator. 
But Senator Jackson did not like the business 
of law-making, and he resigned from the Sen- 
ate within a year, returned to Tennessee, and 
became a private citizen. 



26 ANDRE W J A CKSON. 

VI. 

JACKSON BECOMES A JUDGE. 

Soon after Jackson had left the Senate he 
became a store-keeper. He would purchase 
goods in Philadelphia and send them to Pitts- 
burg in wagons, a distance of three hundred 
and fifty miles ; from there they were sent down 
the Ohio River in flat-boats, and thence car- 
ried on pack-horses, through the wilderness, 
to Nashville. 

This was certainly keeping store under diffi- 
culties, and we can imagine that the store was 
not a very extensive one. 

But Jackson was not left long in private life. 
He was elected to a seat in the Supreme Court 
of the State. He did not desire to be a judge, 
but he had always said that a citizen should 
not seek nor decline public duty. He there- 
fore accepted because he felt it his duty to do 
so. 

He held the office several years, when he 
resigned. During this time he had to travel 
over the State and hold court in different towns, 



A NDRE W J A CKSON. 2 7 

and many were his thrilling adventures among 
those half-civilized people. 

The criminals and ruffians hated the judge, 
because they knew it was his business to deal 
justice and to punish them when they de- 
served it. 

A judge had to be a man of iron nerve, or 
the ruffians would intimidate him. Jackson 
was just such a man. When he was angry 
his eyes shone like fire and no criminal could 
stand before him. He loved justice and 
despised crime and the oppression of the 
poor. 

One of the most thrilling incidents in his 
life was at the trial of a criminal named Russell 
Bean. Bean was a very bad man ; he would 
commit almost any brutal crime ; he even cut 
off a baby's ears to spite its mother. 

One day a warrant was issued for his arrest. 
Jackson was in the court room ready to give him 
a trial, but Bean refused to be arrested and de- 
fied the sheriff. 

As he was armed with pistol and knife, the 
sheriff was afraid of him. The sheriff came in 
and told Jackson that the man sat on his horse 



2 8 ANDRE W J A CKSON. 

with drawn pistol and swore he would shoot 
anyone that came near him. 

" Then summon a posse," cried Jackson. 

The sheriff went out again, but soon re- 
turned and told Jackson that the men were all 
afraid to lay hands on the man. 

" Then summon me," roared Jackson. The 
anger of Judge Jackson was now at its highest 
pitch ; he leaped from the bench, ran out to 
where the desperado, Bean, w r as blustering 
and threatening, pointed his pistol at his head, 
and ordered him to surrender. Bean's nerve 
failed him ; he dropped his pistol and said : 

" There's no use, Jedge, I give in." 

He was then brought before the court and 
punished. He afterward said that no man 
could stand before the flashing eye of Judge 
Jackson. 

One of the stories told of Jackson while he 
was judge is quite amusing, and shows how 
cool he was at a critical moment. He was rid- 
ing along a lonely road in his gig when he met 
a ruffian who had been punished in court by 
him years before. 

The man now thought he would have some 



ANDRE W J A CKSON. 2<) 

fun with the one who had sentenced him to 
punishment. He drew his pistol and ordered 
Jackson to dismount. Jackson coolly got out 
of the gig. 

" Now, dance for your life," said the man. 

" How can I dance with these heavy boots 
on," answered Jackson, "let me get my slip- 
pers." 

" All right," said the man, and Jackson 
quietly went to his valise. But instead of the 
slippers, he drew his pistol, whirled upon the 
man, and pointed it to his head. The man 
was so taken back that he lost his aim at the 
judge and stood trembling before him. 

" Drop that pistol," shouted Jackson, and he 
dropped it. 

" Now, dance," demanded Jackson, and the 
ruffian began to dance, Jackson pointing his 
pistol at him all the time. When the man 
had danced a long time and began to slacken 
his efforts from fatigue, Jackson said, " Keep 
on dancing." 

So he made him dance till he could stand 
up no longer and fell helpless to the ground, 
and Jackson drove off. 



30 Andre w ja ckson. 

I shall close this chapter by relating one 
other incident, showing how faithful Jackson 
was to a friend. A large crowd had met at a 
place called Clover Bottom for the annual 
horse-races. 

The landlord of the tavern set a long table 
in the open air and hundreds of men gathered 
around it. Indeed the crowd was so dense on 
both sides of the table that no one could get 
through it. 

Judge Jackson was at the head of the table 
and a friend of his named Patten Anderson 
was at the other end, several rods away. An- 
derson had enemies there who created a dis- 
turbance, drew their pistols, and were about 
to shoot him. 

Jackson saw the great danger of his friend, 
but the crowd was such that he could not get 
to him. What could he do ? 

Well, if ever there was a man who could 
always find a way to do what he wanted to do, 
it was Andrew Jackson. He leaped from his 
seat, sprang upon the table, and ran among the 
dishes the whole length of the table, shouting, 
" I'm coming, Patten." 



ANDRE W J A CKSON. 3 1 

As he ran he put his hand into his back 
coat pocket as if for a pistol, but he had no 
pistol. He had, instead, an old steel tobacco- 
box with a stiff spring, which made a click 
similar to that of a pistol. This he drew out 
and snapped. 

The men thinking this a pistol, and seeing 
the terrible flash in Jackson's eye, instantly 
dispersed, and Anderson was saved. 



VII. 
OLD HICKORY. 



The store and farm of Judge Jackson were 
so neglected by his being away from home a 
large part of each year that he decided to 
resign the judgeship and take personal charge 
of his affairs at home. 

This he did in 1804. His finances had also 
suffered greatly through the failure of a man in 
Philadelphia whose notes Jackson held. By this 
failure he lost about seven thousand dollars, 
and to meet it he was forced to sell a large 
tract of land. 



3 2 ANDRE W J A CKSON. 

Jackson owned at one time more than twenty- 
five thousand acres of land, but it was not cul- 
tivated ; its value therefore was not very great. 
A large part of this now had to be sold to pay 
his debts. 

He then moved, with his wife, to a large 
farm not far from Nashville, and this became 
their permanent home. On this farm Jack- 
son built in later years a fine house and named 
it The Hermitage. 

This house is still standing and is looked 
upon as the most interesting place in Tennessee. 

Before Jackson had been sent to Congress 
he was married to Mrs. Rachel Robards. 
Their married life was a long and happy one. 
Jackson thought his wife the best woman in 
the world, and was fondly devoted to her as 
long as she lived. 

From the time that Jackson ceased to be a 
judge till the War of 1812 began, he lived the 
quiet life of a planter and store-keeper. There 
was little in his life during this period that 
would interest the reader. 

But his experience during the war is highly 
interesting to every American. He had been 



ANDRE W J A CKSON. 3 3 

chosen some years before as the leader of the 
Tennessee militia. 

The militia of a State are the men who are 
drilled and practised for warfare, though they 
do not belong to the regular army. 

Volunteers are men who offer to fight for 
their country in time of war, though they do 
not belong to the militia. 

Early in the summer of 1812, only a few 
days after war was declared, General Jack- 
son offered to raise a body of troops and lead 
them into the field. 

His offer was accepted, and in a few months 
he had over two thousand volunteers ready for 
service. He was ordered to lead them down 
the Mississippi River, as it was supposed there 
would soon be an enemy in that part of the 
country. 

After a long journey down the river they 
came to the town of Natchez in February. 
Here they stopped and went into camp. 
They drilled for many weeks and prepared for 
a campaign, but no enemy appeared. 

At length, late in the spring, the general re- 
ceived a letter from the Secretary of War. It 



34 ANDRE W J A CKSON. 

was very brief and very discouraging. It sim- 
ply stated that there was no further need of the 
troops under Jackson, and ordered him to dis- 
miss them at once and turn over their arms 
to another general, then commanding at New 
Orleans. 

General Jackson was very indignant when he 
received this letter. He said it was cruel and 
outrageous to lead men five hundred miles 
from their homes and then turn them out to 
find their way back through the wilderness, 
without money, without arms, without food. 

Many of them were young men, and he had 
promised their parents that he would be a 
father to them and bring them back to their 
homes, if in his power. 

And, besides, one hundred and fifty of them 
were sick, and fifty-six of them could not lift 
their heads from the pillow. What a strange 
thine it would have been to turn these out 
without protection ! 

But General Jackson made up his mind that 
he would not obey this order of the Secretary 
of War. He said he would march the men 
back to Tennessee, if he had to pay the ex- 



ANDREW JACKSON. 35 

penscs himself. And so they started in a few 
days. 

The sick were put on the few wagons and 
horses which they had ; the rest walked. The 
general had three good horses of his own ; but 
he gave them all to the sick, while he walked 
with the others. Jackson was a good walker 
and bore the trip well, though he was not a 
strong, hearty man. 

One day as they were jogging along some 
one said, " The general is tough ; " another 
said, "As tough as hickory/' From this he 
soon came to be called " Old Hickory," a name 
he retained as long as he lived. 

The army reached their homes after march- 
ing about a month. The sick men had re- 
covered on the way, and they were all glad to 
meet their friends again. The government 
afterward bore the expense of the trip and thus 
saved General Jackson from financial ruin. 



36 ANDRE W J A CKSON. 

VIII. 

FIGHTING INDIANS. 

General Jackson was very popular in 
Tennessee after returning with his army from 
down the river. The people liked the way he 
had treated the soldiers, and his praises were 
sounded on every side. 

Now it happened that the Creek Indians be- 
came involved in the War of 1812. They were 
led to fight against the Americans by a noted 
Indian chief from the north named Tecumseh, 
who was a friend to England. 

It was very wrong for the Creeks to fight 
on the British side, for they were, at that time, 
receiving a pension from the United States. 

One of the first acts of these Indians was to 
commit a horrible crime — the massacre of Fort 
Mims. This occurred in August, 1813. The 
fort was in the southern part of Alabama, was 
built of wood, and covered about an acre of 
ground. 

When the white people of the neighborhood 
heard the Indians were hostile they gathered 



ANDRE IV J A CKSON. 3 J 

here, men, women, and children, until there 
were about five hundred in the fort. 

One day a thousand Indian warriors, hideous 
with war-paint, rushed upon the fort and mur- 
dered the people, women and children as well 
as men, until only a few were left ! 

The news spread through Tennessee, and the 
wildest excitement prevailed. What could be 
done ? The people felt that the murder should 
be avenged and their own homes protected. 

" Raise an army and march into the Indian 
country," was the cry throughout Tennessee. 
Who would lead the army ? Jackson was their 
general ; but he had been engaged in a street- 
fight, and his left arm was terribly shattered 
with a pistol-ball. 

He had not been out of bed for some 
weeks, and no one thought he would be able 
to lead them. But as soon as he heard what 
was going on, he got up and said he was 
ready to go. He was a man of wonderful 
nerve and courage. 

His arm had not yet healed, but within a 
few days he was on his horse marching with 
an army into the Indian country. His left 



38 A NDRE W J A CKSON. 

arm was in a sling and he had to be lifted on 
and off his horse. 

The army marched into the Indian country 
a hundred miles or more and encamped at a 
place called Fort Strother. Here the general 
learned that the Indians were encamped at a 
place called Talladega, about thirty miles away. 

He now hastened with his army to the place, 
covering nearly the whole distance in one 
night. Next morning he met the Indians, and 
the battle of Talladega was fought. 

The Indians were put to flight in a short 
time and Jackson returned to his camp. 

But there was one serious trouble with which 
he had to contend and that was a want of provis- 
ions for his soldiers. There being no railroads, 
it was not easy to get supplies to the army and 
they had to wait for several weeks with almost 
nothing to eat. 

The result was that the men grew restless 
and wanted to go home. Jackson pleaded with 
them to stay with him until the Creeks were 
subdued, and at times he would have half the 
army watch the other half to keep them from 
going. 



ANDRE W J A CKSON. 39 

At last the men vowed they would go home, 
even after supplies had reached them, and be- 
gan to move off in a body. 

Jackson's old fighting spirit now arose. He 
rode in front of the moving column, laid his 
gun across his horse's neck with his right hand, 
his left still being in a sling, and said he would 
shoot the first man that made another step. 

Not a man stirred for some minutes. At 
length they gave it up and agreed to return to 
their duty. It was afterward found that the 
musket that Jackson had at the time was too 
much out of order to be discharged. 



IX. 

MORE INDIAN FIGHTING. 



The troops now under Jackson were so dis- 
contented, that he thought it unwise to force 
them to stay longer. They were not regular 
soldiers, had never been in war before, and 



soon grew tired of it. 



They had won an important victory and 
now longed to go back to their farm and their 



4<D ANDRE W J A CKSON. 

families. So General Jackson let them go, but 
his ranks were soon filled by others sent to 
take their places. 

This second army was much better than the 
first, and reached the number of five thousand 
men. It was several weeks before they could 
get ready for a final campaign against the 
enemy, and the spring was now at hand. 

There is a bend in the Tallapoosa River 
about midway between its source and its 
mouth. The curve is so sharp that it forms a 
small peninsula containing a hundred acres of 
land, and this is called the Horseshoe, because 
its shape is that of a horseshoe. 

This peninsula was a wild, rough piece of 
ground covered with timber. The Indians, 
thinking this a good place to encamp and to 
fortify themselves against the Americans, had 
gathered here to the number of twelve 
hundred. 

Jackson, hearing of their encampment at 
Horseshoe, hastened to meet them. He 
reached the place the last part of March, 1814. 
Now occurred one of the bloodiest battles ever 
fought with the Indians on American soil. 



A NDRE W J A CKS ON. 4 1 

Jackson placed his men in different points 
around the peninsula and began the attack. 

The battle raged all day. When night came 
nearly nine hundred Indians lay dead upon 
the field or at the bottom of the river. The 
rest had escaped into the wilderness. The loss 
on the American side was about one-fifth that 
of the Indians. 

The power of the Creek Indians was now 
entirely broken. Not long after this battle 
they began to come to Jackson and sue for 
peace. Jackson offered to spare all who would 
lay down their arms and promise to let the 
white settlers alone in future.. 

Most of them did this. But there was 
one Indian chief whom Jackson said they 
must bring to him for punishment, and that 
was Weatherford who had led the massacre at 
Fort Mims. 

One day when Jackson was sitting in his 
tent a big Indian chief with his paint and 
feathers walked in and said, " I am Weather- 
ford. I have come to ask peace for my 
people." 

Jackson was surprised at his coming and 



42 ANDRE W J A CKSON. 

said : " I had directed that you be brought to 
me bound ; had you so appeared, I should 
have known how to treat you." 

" I am in your power,'' answered the Indian ; 
"do with me as you please. I am a soldier. 
I have done the white people all the harm I 
could. If I had an army, I would yet fight 
them; but I have none. My people are all 
gone. 

" My warriors can no longer hear my voice. 
Their bones are at Talladega and The Horse- 
shoe. Do with me what you will. You are a 
brave man ; I rely on your generosity. I ask 
not for myself, but for my people." 

Jackson had intended to put Weatherford to 
death for what he had done at Fort Mims, but 
after hearing this eloquent speech from so brave 
a man, he could not do it. 

Weatherford promised to do all in his power 
toward keeping the peace in future, and was 
suffered to depart. He kept his word, and 
the Indian war was over. 

I shall now close this story of Indian fight- 
ing by relating a touching little incident. 

Besides the battles of Talladega and The 



A NDRE W J A CKSON. 43 

Horseshoe, which we have noticed, there were 
several other smaller battles fought during this 
campaign. 

Sometimes the Indians had with them their 
women and children during a battle, and some 
of them were sure to be killed, as well as the 
men; though the Americans did not kill them 
if they could help it. 

After one of these battles a little Indian 
baby boy was brought into the American camp. 
Its mother had been killed, and the living child 
was found in the dead mother's arms. An 
Indian baby is called a papoose. 

General Jackson took this little papoose into 
his tent where it was fed on water mixed with 
sugar. He then sent it away to be nursed at 
his expense ; and when the campaign was over 
he took it to his own home. 

Mrs. Jackson received the little fellow very 
kindly. The boy grew up in their home till 
he became a man and was treated by the gen- 
eral and his wife almost as a son. 



44 ANDRE W J A CKSON. 

X. 

MAJOR-GENERAL ANDREW JACKSON. 

A major-general in the army is one grade 
below a lieutenant-general and one grade above 
a brigadier-general. 

Andrew Jackson had been simply the com- 
mander of the Tennessee forces; but after his 
success among the Indians he was made a 
major-general in the army of the United States. 

Major-General William Henry Harrison, 
who afterward became President of the United 
States, resigned from the army in 1814, and 
Jackson was appointed to .take his place. 

He was now a regular officer of the Union, 
and the duty of defending the southern part 
of the country was assigned to him. The 
great work before him was to defend the lower 
Mississippi valley ; but before going down the 
river he made a short vigorous campaign into 
Florida. 

First he drove a small British fleet out of 
Mobile Bay, destroying one of the ships ; then 
he made a hurried march across the country 



ANDRE W J A CKSON. 4 5 

to Pensacola and took possession of the place 
driving away the enemy. 

The rumor was spread throughout the South 
that a large English fleet had set sail for the 
mouth of the Mississippi. 

General Jackson therefore hastened with his 
troops to New Orleans, and arrived about the 
first of December, 1814. 

The city was ill prepared for defense. The 
people knew of the impending danger. The 
citizens had met to consult about it, but they 
could agree on nothing. At length the news 
was spread that Jackson had arrived, and there 
was magic in the news. 

A leader had been greatly needed, and here 
was now a leader who was born to command. 
He had been but a few hours in the city when 
the plan of defense was fully decided upon, 
and hope was seen to beam in every counte- 
nance. 

Some days were now taken by the general 
in viewing the various approaches to the city. 

It was soon found that the fears of the peo- 
ple were well grounded. A large British fleet 
had landed. It consisted of fifty ships, carrying 



46 ANDRE W J A CKSON. 

twenty thousand soldiers and a thousand heavy 
guns. 

It was commanded by Sir Edward Paken- 
ham, a brave and successful soldier, and 
brother-in-law of the duke of Wellington, the 
hero of Waterloo. 

Against this force Jackson had less than four 
thousand men, and many of them were badly 
armed. Many had never been in a battle. 

General Jackson was himself in poor health. 
The long exposure in the Indian country and 
the long horseback rides through the wilderness 
had greatly injured his health. 

When he reached New Orleans, he was 
scarcely able to sit on his horse. But the 
power of his will was wonderful ; and now for 
weeks he was active day and night preparing to 
save the city. 

The British army was slowly making its 
way up the river on the eastern bank toward 
the city. As soon as Jackson knew of their 
approach he decided to attack them. 

This he did on the night of December 23 ; 
and the battle raged in the darkness for several 
hours. But neither side won a victory. 



A NDRE IV J A CKSON. 47 

On the next day, just one day before Christ- 
mas, a treaty of peace was signed between 
England and the United States, at the little 
town of Ghent in Belgium. 

But there was no Atlantic cable then, and the 
news of the peace was not heard in America 
for several weeks ; so the preparations for battle 
were continued. 

General Jackson saw that the only way to 
save the city was to throw up an embankment 
and have his men fight from behind it. 

He therefore put them to work, and for 
nearly three weeks the soldiers worked like 
beavers day and night with spade and shovel 
and wheelbarrow. 

It would remind one of bees building a 
honey-comb, or a colony of ants making an 
ant-hill. 

During this time the British made two or 
three assaults on the American line, but were 
driven back each time. The loss of men 
reached several hundred on each side. In one 
of these attacks General Jackson was in a large 
wooden house back of his army. 

The English, knowing this, directed their fire 



48 ANDRE W J A CKSON. 

toward it, and the house was struck by a hun- 
dred cannon balls in ten minutes, but the gen- 
eral was not hurt. 

General Pakenham was ready for a grand 
assault. By the evening of the seventh of Janu- 
ary there was a feeling on both sides that an 
awful battle was about to take place. 

And so there was — one of the most terrible 
this Western World had ever seen — but that 
will be given in the next chapter. 



XL 

BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS. 



War is a dreadful thing at best. It sweeps 
over a land and leaves a frightful trail — 
suffering and woe, widows and orphans! 
The shouts of victory are mingled with the 
wails of the dying ; the songs of triumph with 
the groans of the fallen foe. 

But with all its horrors, war will sometimes 
come and we cannot help it. At such times it 
is the part of one who loves his country to 



ANDRE W J A CKSON. 49 

fight for its honor with his heart brave and 
unfaltering. 

Such were the men who fought under Jack- 
son at the battle of New Orleans on January 
8, 1815. 

General Jackson and his soldiers felt it their 
solemn duty to repel the English invaders of 
our land, and now the supreme moment had 
come. 

The general remembered how, thirty-five 
years before when only a boy, he had been 
captured by the English in the Revolutionary 
War, and a cruel officer had struck him with a 
sword, leaving a scar that he still bore. 

He remembered how that war had deprived 
him of his loving mother and his two brothers ; 
and perhaps these memories made him the 
more anxious now to inflict a terrible blow 
upon the enemy. 

He arose on this day at one o'clock in the 
morning and rode along his lines, rousing his 
men to their places of duty. 

Within a few hours everything was in readi- 
ness — the cannon mounted, and every man at 
his place. 



5 O A NDRE W J A CKSON. 

Great was the activity also in the British 
camp. No soldiers are braver than the Eng- 
lish soldiers, and they certainly proved it on 
that fatal day. At the first break of day they 
were marching in solid columns toward the 
American lines. 

Then at the signal of a skyrocket they 
opened fire, and the awful work of the day was 
beeun. The aim of the British was to storm 
and capture the American works. 

A large body of troops, led by General Gibbs, 
marched boldly toward the works. The Ameri- 
cans held their peace till the British came with- 
in a few hundred yards. 

Then they opened a terrific fire, and mowed 
them down like grass before the reaper's 
scythe. 

The boom of the cannon and the rattle of the 
musketry made a noise at once terrible and 
magnificent. 

The top of the American breastwork, nearly 
a mile in length, was one unbroken line of fire. 

In a few minutes the British troops began to 
falter and break away, leaving hundreds dead 
on the field. General Gibbs rode in front and 



ANDRE W J A CKSON. 5 I 

tried to rally them, but they refused to rush to 
certain death. 

At that moment General Pakenham rode to 
the front and cried, " For shame ! recollect that 
you are British soldiers." 

At length they rallied and again faced the 
awful fire from the American works. The 
slaughter was now more dreadful than before. 
The musketeers swept them down like chaff 
before the wind. 

A cannon was loaded to the muzzle with 
musket balls and scraps of iron, and fired right 
into the head of the column. It mowed a 
wide swath from one end to the other, cutting 
down two hundred men ! 

Pakenham's horse was shot, and he leaped 
upon another. His right arm was now shattered 
by a musket ball and fell helpless to his side ; 
but he kept on cheering his men as if he did 
not notice it. 

A few minutes later he was pierced through 
the body by two balls, and his second horse 
killed at the same instant. They fell together. 

Friendly hands caught the falling general 
and bore him to a place of safety in the rear ; 



5 2 ANDRE W J A CKSON. 

but when they reached there, the heroic com- 
mander was dead. General Gibbs was also 
killed, and General Lambert became the Eng- 
lish commander. 

The Americans were so secure behind their 
works that they could fight in safety. 

Twenty-five minutes after the first terrible 
fire had begun, the British fled to a safe dis- 
tance and the main part of the battle was over. 
What an awful day it was to that English 
army! 

During the conflict General Jackson walked 
along his lines, cheering his men and urging 
them to do their best. The victory was com- 
plete, and the city was saved. 

The British loss on that day in killed, 
wounded, and prisoners, was two thousand 
six hundred; the American loss was not 
over twenty-one men ! 

Ten days later General Lambert led the 
remainder of his army silently back to their 
ships by night, and they were seen no more on 
the shores of Louisiana. 



A NDRE W J A CKSON. 5 3 

XII. 
ECHOES FROM THE BATTLE. 

The great battle of January 8, 1815, was 
fought on the east bank of the Mississippi, 
about six miles below New Orleans. 

Next to General Jackson the one who de- 
served most credit for the victory was General 
Coffee, who had been with Jackson all through 
the Indian campaign. 

While this battle was going on there was an- 
other being fought on the west side of the 
river. Only a few hundred men were here 
engaged. 

The result w r as a victory for the English, who 
drove the Americans from their position ; but 
General Lambert decided not to attempt to 
hold the ground they had won, and he ordered 
the men back to the main army. 

Let me here relate a few little incidents of 
the battle. 

When the British first landed from their 
ships some miles below the city, they took as 
prisoners all who lived in that neighborhood, 



5 4 ANDRE W J A CKSON. 

so that none could inform General Jackson that 
they had made a landing. 

Their object was to surprise the city and 
capture it, if possible, without much fighting. 
Among the prisoners was a young Creole, 
Major Villere, who determined to escape, if he 
could, and give the alarm in the city. 

He was confined in a house guarded by 
armed men ; but he escaped through a window, 
ran across the yard filled with redcoats, leaped 
over a high hedge fence, and made for the for- 
est with all speed. 

" Catch him, or kill him," cried the colonel. 

About fifty men started in pursuit. After a 
long race through the woods, he found that they 
were gaining on him, and decided to climb a 
tree. 

At that moment he heard a whining at his feet 
and looked down, and behold ! his favorite 
setter. The faithful dog had followed its 
master and now crouched at his feet. 

What could be done ? If the dog remained 
there, he would be discovered. There was but 
one thing to do — kill the dog. Now he did 
what he often related in after years with tears 



ANDRE W J A CKSON. 5 5 

in his eyes. He slew the noble dog with a 
club, hid its body, and climbed the tree. 

The fate of the city was at stake, and he 
could not do otherwise. The soldiers came 
on, passed by under the tree, and were soon 
gone. 

When their voices died out in the distance, 
he came down, made his way across the river, 
and reached the city about one o'clock the next 
afternoon. 

He soon found General Jackson, and in- 
formed him that the British had landed and 
were encamped but eight miles below. 

He had made a narrow escape, lost his faith- 
ful dog, but had saved New Orleans from a 
surprise by the enemy. 

During the battle a few Englishmen would 
now and then reach the American works and 
climb upon the rampart ; but they were in- 
stantly shot down. Only one man, Lieutenant 
Lavack, reached the summit unhurt, and he was 
made a prisoner. 

One Major Wilkinson reached the top and 
there fell mortally wounded. The Americans, 
seeing that he was not dead, ceased firing and 



5 6 ANDRE IV J A CKSON. 

carried him to the rear. Some one said, " Bear 
up, my dear fellow ; you are a brave man." 

The wounded man answered in a weak, faint 
voice, " From my heart I thank you ; it is all 
over with me. You can do me a favor; tell 
my commander that I fell on your rampart and 
died like a soldier." 

One of the most touching incidents of the 
battle was the following: A boy fourteen years 
old was a bugler, that is, one who blows the 
bugle to cheer the soldiers. 

This boy climbed a small tree in the thickest 
of the battle, sat astride a limb, and blew his 
horn during the whole time. 

The cannon balls and bullets plowed the 
ground around him, killed scores of men, and 
even tore the branches of the tree ; but still he 
sat blowing with all his might. 

The blast of his horn could be heard above 
the roaring of the battle. When all was over 
and the British had fled, some Americans, walk- 
ing over the ground, found the brave lad still 
in the tree. 

He had not even been wounded. He was 
taken to the American camp where many 



ANDRE W J A CA'SON. 5 7 

gathered around to show him kindness, some 
even embracing the gallant little soldier. 

The people of New Orleans were exultant 
with joy at the success of the American arms 
,and the salvation of the city. General Jackson 
found himself exceedingly popular. 

As the army returned to the city, hundreds 
of people went out to meet them. A triumphal 
arch was erected in the public square. 

A solemn public service was held in the 
cathedral to give thanks to God for their de- 
liverance. 

General Jackson was now forty-eight years 
old. From this time his fame was world-wide. 
When he returned to Tennessee late in the 
spring, he was met with the most enthusiastic 
welcome. 

Some months later the President summoned 
him to Washington. His journey thither was 
one continued ovation. At Lynchburg, Vir- 
ginia, a great meeting was held in his honor, 
and the aged ex-President Jefferson was pre- 
sent. To the end of Jackson's life his fame 
never abated. 

This battle of New Orleans, nearly eighty 



5 8 ANDRE W J A CKSON. 

years ago, was the last battle fought between 
America and England. Let us hope and pray 
that there will never be another. 



XIII. 

GENERAL JACKSON BECOMES PRESIDENT. 

For several years after the War of 1812 
Andrew 7 Jackson led the quiet life of a planter. 

As this little book must not be too long I 
have omitted to tell of the long wait Jackson 
and his army had in New Orleans for the com- 
ing of the news of peace, and of the trouble 
he had in that city with a judge of the United 
States court. 

I shall also leave out an account of the 
Seminole War of 1818, since it was very 
similar to the Indian fighting that has been re- 
lated. 

Let us go on to the presidential campaign 

of 1824. 

James Monroe, who had succeeded Mr. 
Madison as president, was now serving his 



ANDRE W J A CKSON. 5 9 

second term. The question on all sides was, 
Who will be the next president? 

Four candidates w r ere early in the field, John 
Quincy Adams of Massachusetts, John C. Cal- 
houn of South Carolina, and William H. Craw- 
ford of Georgia. 

These three were all in Mr. Monroe's cabinet. 
The fourth candidate was Henry Clay of Ken- 
tucky, Speaker of the House of Representa- 
tives. 

These were all strong men, and each had a 
good following. Before the election a fifth 
candidate entered the field, and that was An- 
drew Jackson. 

He was nominated by the Legislature of 
Tennessee, and in a short time he became the 
most popular of all. Mr. Calhoun soon 
dropped out of the race and became the candi- 
date for the vice-presidency. 

When the election came, Calhoun was 
elected vice-president ; but there was no elec- 
tion of president, as no one had received the 
majority of the Electoral College. 

Jackson received the highest number of 
votes, ninety-nine. Adams came next with 



60 A NDRE W J A CKSON. 

eighty-four, while Crawford received forty-one 
and Clay thirty-seven. 

Now the Constitution of the United States 
provides that when there is no election of 
president by the people, the election must go 
to the House of Representatives. 

This was the second and last time thus far 
that the House had to elect a president, the 
first being in 1801 when Jefferson was elected 
for the first time. 

The house voted on February the ninth and 
Adams was elected. Soon after the election 
Adams chose Henry Clay Secretary of State. 

Then Jackson and his friends raised the cry 
that there had been a corrupt bargain between 
Adams and Clay; that is, that Adams had 
offered to make Clay secretary, if Clay would 
help make him president. 

There is no proof that such a bargain had 
ever been made, but Jackson believed it and 
was free to say so. 

Not long after the inauguration of Adams, 
Jackson's friends again nominated him for presi- 
dent, and the subject was kept before the 
people for nearly four years. 



ANDRE W J A CKSON. 6 1 

Jackson resigned his seat in the United States 
Senate to which he had been elected, and gave 
his attention to the canvass. When the next 
election came near, everything was done to 
make Jackson a winning candidate. 

In January, 1828, he attended an immense 
celebration at New Orleans, in honor of his 
victory of 181 5. It lasted four days, and was 
attended by a vast crowd of people from all 
parts of the Union. 

The campaign that followed that year was a 
bitter one. Mr. Adams was a candidate for re- 
election. Both parties seemed to forget their 
courtesy. They stooped to every kind of per- 
sonal abuse. The sooner such a practice in 
our politics can be gotten rid of the better. 

At the election Jackson won a great victory. 
He received one hundred and seventy-eight 
electoral votes to Adams's eighty-three. 

Andrew Jackson was now elected president 
of the United States ; but before taking his 
seat there came upon him the greatest sorrow 
of his life. His beloved wife died in Decem- 
ber, a few weeks after the election. 

The general was greatly devoted to his wife, 



62 ANDREW JACKSON. 

and it is said that he never recovered from the 
shock. It was said that he looked twenty 
years older in a night. Scarcely was the fun- 
eral over, when he had to begin his long jour- 
ney to Washington. 

The fourth of March was a beautiful day, and 
the crowd was vast. The people had come 
from every point of the compass to see the 
" people's man " made president. 

Jackson was the first of our presidents to 
rise from the lower strata of society. All the 
presidents before him had come from rich and 
aristocratic families. 

Jackson rose from the ranks of the poor and 
the unknown, and the people loved him the 
more for that. The inauguration over, they 
proceeded to the White House where a grand 
public reception was held. 

Here the people tramped over the fine Brus- 
sels carpets, stood on the upholstered furniture, 
and in their crowding smashed a fine, costly 
chandelier. 

Did Jackson get angry at their carelessness ? 
Oh, no ! He simply said, " Let the boys have 
a good time once in four years." 



ANDREW JACKSON. 63 

XIV. 
JACKSON AS PRESIDENT. 

Eight of our presidents thus far have been 
elected for a second term. Jackson was one 
of these; he was president from March, 1829, 
to March, 1837. 

During this period there were many very 
important subjects before the country; but as 
this little volume is intended for young readers, 
I shall not discuss in it those great political 
questions. 

Let us simply refer to a few of the most im- 
portant movements without going too deeply 
into the subject. 

One of the first things Jackson did, on be- 
coming president, was to dismiss a great many 
office-holders and to put his friends in their 
places. These officers, post-masters, revenue 
collectors, and the like, are appointed by the 
president and are called civil service officers. 

The presidents before Jackson appointed 
civil service officials because of their fitness, 
not because they were personal friends, or be- 
longed to the same political party. 



64 ANDRE W J A CKSON. 

But Jackson turned these out by the hundred, 
and put in his friends and members of his own 
party. This is a very bad practice. It leads 
men to work for their party, not for the sake of 
good government, but because they expect to 
be rewarded with an office. 

President Jackson does not deserve our 
thanks for introducing this custom, which is 
still with us to some extent. But in the last 
few years there has been an earnest endeavor 
to introduce Civil Service Reform, that is, to 
get back to the old custom of the first presi- 
dents. 

Perhaps the best thing that Jackson did for 
his country while president was to crush Nulli- 
fication in South Carolina. You may wonder 
what that big word " nullification " means. 

To nullify means to make null and of no 
effect. South Carolina did not like the tariff 
of 1828, and decided to nullify it, to prevent it 
from taking effect in that State. 

A tariff is a duty, a tax on goods sold in this 
country from foreign countries. It has two 
objects : first, to raise money by this tax to 
carry on the government. 



A ND RE W J A CKSON. 6 5 

This is called Revenue. Second, to protect 
home industries ; to prevent the foreigner, by 
taxing his goods, from underselling our own 
people. For if his goods are taxed, he must 
charge so much the more for them to make it 
up. This is called Protection. 

South Carolina did not want protection, as 
her people did not manufacture goods. They 
desired a low tariff, so that they could purchase 
foreign products at a low price. So South 
Carolina decided not to be bound by this tariff, 
nor permit its enforcement in that State. This 
was nullification. 

General Jackson took very strong ground 
against South Carolina. His old war spirit 
arose, and he determined to send an army into 
the State and enforce obedience. When the 
people of the State saw that he was in earnest, 
they receded from their position and thus the 
whole matter was settled. 

This took place in 1832 — -just a hundred 
years after the birth of George Washington 
and the settlement of Georgia. 

Let us notice one other event of Jackson's 
administration — his dealing with the United 



66 ANDRE W J A CKSON. 

States Bank. The United States Bank was a 
very large concern with a capital of thirty-five 
million dollars. It had been chartered by 
Congress for twenty years, and had control of 
nearly all the money of the country. 

Now President Jackson was not a friend of 
this bank. He believed that so great a bank, 
with such power over the people's money, was 
likely to become corrupt, and to carry the elec- 
tions by a wrong use of the money. 

When therefore a bill to re-charter the bank 
was passed in Congress, Jackson vetoed the 
bill. A president vetoes a bill when he refuses 
to sign it and gives his reasons for it. 

Jackson further determined to weaken the 
bank by removing the money of the Treasury 
from it. When he did this, it caused a great 
deal of excitement throughout the country. 

Many people thought the bank was a good 
thing, and they feared that any disturbance of 
the business of the bank would disturb all 
sorts of business over the country, and perhaps 
bring on a panic. 

Thousands of people begged Jackson to re- 
place the money in the bank, but nothing could 



ANDRE IV J A CKSON. 6j 

move him. The final result was that the bank 
was destroyed. 

From that time to the present the surplus 
money of the government has been kept in an 
independent treasury, often called the Sub- 
Treasury. 

When Jackson's second term drew to a close, 
he determined to retire to private life, though 
there is little doubt that he could have been 
elected a third time, had he so desired. 

We have had only two presidents, perhaps, 
who could have been elected to a third term, 
and they were Washington and Jackson. 



xv. 

JACKSON'S OLD AGE. 

Let us notice very briefly the closing years 
of the active life of Andrew Jackson. When 
he retired to the Hermitage in Tennessee, he 
was seventy years old and very infirm in 
health. 

He had saved but little of his salary and his 
farm had not been well kept. He soon became 



68 ANDRE IV J A CKSON. 

interested in the farm, his health improved and 
he lived eight years in retirement, dying at the 
age of seventy-eight. 

Perhaps no public man in America has had 
firmer friends and bitterer enemies than An- 
drew Jackson* 

That he had serious faults no one can deny. 
He had a violent temper and he often failed to 
control it ; or rather he did not seem to try to 
control it. He loved to reward his friends and 
to punish his enemies. 

But far more can be said of Jackson's virtues 
than his faults. He was an honest man and 
loved his country. No one could ever accuse 
him of selfish ambition. He often used rough 
language, as did most men from the frontier; 
but he was very courteous and chivalrous to 
ladies. 

Many a one was astonished to find him so 
genteel and cultured in society. On one oc- 
casion a fashionable lady from London called 
on Jackson. She afterward remarked, " Your 
republican president is the royal model of a 
gentleman." 

Jackson's social life was as pure as snow. 



ANDRE W J A CKSON. 6g 

He had a deeply religious spirit. It is true he 
did not join the church until near the close of 
his life; but his letters and speeches often refer 
to Divine Providence, and show that he had 
a devout nature. 

He said near the close of his life that he had 
read three chapters in the Bible daily for 
thirty-five years. 

In 1842 he became a member of the Presby- 
terian Church. During the remaining three 
years of his life he spent most of his leisure 
time reading the Bible and his hymn-book, 
and had prayers every night with his family. 

At length Jackson's great changeful life drew 
to a close. His suffering had been intense for 
many months, but not a word of complaint 
ever escaped his lips. 

How can we more fittingly close this 
narrative than by quoting some of his last 
words ? The end came on the eighth of 
June, 1845. 

On the morning of that day the doctor said 
that the hand of death was upon him. 

The family and slaves gathered around. 
The aged man swooned away ; they thought 



JO ANDRE W J A CKSON. 

the end was at hand, and many were weeping 
and sobbing. 

Presently the dying general opened his eyes 
and said : " My dear children, do not grieve 
for me; it is true, I am going to leave you. 
I have suffered much bodily pain, but my suf- 
ferings are as nothing compared w r ith that 
which our blessed Saviour endured upon the 
cross, that we might all be saved who put our 
trust in him." 

Soon after saying this he took leave of the 
members of his family separately, beginning 
with Mrs. Jackson, wife of his adopted son. 
Then turning partly toward the piazza filled 
with a crowd of black servants, he said : 

" My dear children and friends and servants, 
I hope and trust to meet you all in heaven, 
both white and black," repeating the last words, 
"both white and black." 

Thus the day passed, till evening. The 
slaves had been standing about the house all 
day, looking through the windows, wringing 
their hands and weeping. 

Half an hour before his death he heard the 
sobbing of these servants, and turning his head 



ANDRE W J A CKSON. J I 

slightly, said in a weak, tremulous voice, 
" What is the matter with my dear children ? 
Have I alarmed you ? Oh, do not cry. Be 
good children, and we will all meet in heaven." 
• These were his last words. He died with- 
out a struggle at six o'clock in the evening. 
His body was laid to rest beside that of his 
wife in a little garden near the Hermitage. 




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